A Message from the Chair
Together, we make the vision real!
With spring comes hope for the rest of 2022. Cases of COVID-19 and its variants are down from January highs, and we’re moving into a greater sense of normalcy.
Children’s of Mississippi’s team of dedicated volunteers have returned to the state’s only children’s hospital, and we couldn't be happier. Their help in wayfinding and hospitality are essential to providing our patients and their families with a positive health care experience.
At our Children’s Heart Center, a new catheterization lab is allowing some of our smallest and most critically ill patients to get the diagnosis and treatment they need. The new lab is part of the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower, opened in November 2020. The Tower also houses a new weekly concussion clinic, which delivers quick follow-up care to concussion patients.
We are currently planning an extensive renovation to the Children's of Mississippi Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, which will offer patients and families more privacy and comfort as well as space for additional examination rooms and pharmacy upgrades.
Joe Sanderson, CEO and board chairman of Sanderson Farms, and his wife, Kathy, were on hand for the announcement in January of a record $1.5 million donation from the Sanderson Farms Championship. Tournament host Century Club Charities made the gift to Friends of Children’s Hospital, a nonprofit that has pledged $20 million to the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi.
Chaired by the Sandersons, the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi is helping fund the construction of the children’s hospital expansion. So far, the philanthropic drive has raised more than 95 percent of its $100 million goal.
The Sanderson Tower hosted Mississippi Miracles Radiothon in March, bringing our patients and their families together with care teams to share the Children’s of Mississippi story. We thank our many volunteers who make this annual event possible.
This issue of Pediatric Update wouldn't be complete without congratulations to Mississippi’s 2022 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals Champion, Nolee Jones. Nolee, an 8-year-old from Pearl, sees cardiologists at Children’s of Mississippi following surgery to correct a congenital heart defect. She’s now living a healthy, active life and is already a wonderful ambassador for the children’s hospital and our patients.
This spring, as always, Children’s of Mississippi is a resource to pediatricians around the state. Please feel free to contact us whenever our care team can be of assistance.
Sincerely,
Mary B. Taylor, M.D., M.S.C.I.
Professor of Pediatrics
Suzan B. Thames Chair, Department of Pediatrics